Books

It is fear of failure that stops us setting a goal, fear of success that stops us achieving it and fear of change that keeps us stuck in the present situation.

If it is fear holding you back, then face that fear, trust your gut instinct and intuition and take small steps of courage towards your goal. This helps you to regain control and respond well to opportunities to grow your business into the one you’ve always dreamed of having.

If you are frustrated that your business is not developing as quickly as you would like, then try this goal setting framework to help you set a business goal, look at all the options then choose the best way forward to achieve it, thus growing your business to greater success.

GoalAsk yourself: ’If I knew I was going to be successful, what would I be doing with my business?’
Set a goal to grow your business, make it SMART (specific, measurable, appealing, realistic and timed i.e. by when do you want to achieve it).
State it in the positive i.e. what you want to happen.
Choose values you hold, to draw on for motivation e.g. challenge, achievement, security, freedom.

RealityWhat is the reality right now, in respect of this goal? Be honest with yourself.
What needs to change?

OptionsWhat are your options for achieving this goal? Keep asking: ‘What else, what else?’
(Be as creative as possible, do not discount anything, look at every possible option)

Way ForwardReview all your options and decide the best way forward.
Decide what actions are needed for the chosen option, to achieve the goal.
Add a timeline, deadline or milestones so you can monitor your progress, put these in your diary.
Think of someone who can hold you accountable, who you can share progress with and then celebrate success with when you achieve your goal.

Remember: ‘You get what you focus on’. Focus on the problem and you get a bigger problem, focus on the goal, solution or outcome and that is what you will achieve.

If you would like one to one support in setting goals and growing your business, then go to www.careercoachlondon.com and contact me for a free consultation.

Every year we have good intentions; set ourselves New Year resolutions, whether it is to lose weight, get fit or get a new job. Strangely, something often stops us, something inside us says, ‘it’s a bit cold to go for a run today’ or ‘I don’t like to waste good food’, or ‘there’s a recession on, there won’t be any jobs going’.

So what is it in us that finds these good reasons not to do the things that would be so good for us? Let’s call it, our ‘inner saboteur’, that little voice in our head that persuades us to sabotage all our best efforts.

We all have an ‘inner saboteur’ that can disrupt our plans to be happy and successful, if we don’t learn to recognise and control the thought and behaviour patterns it brings about in us. It uses our fears of taking responsibility and causes us to avoid change.

When our ‘saboteur’ has got the better of us, we can be so afraid of change that we became ‘stuck in a rut’, it does not have to be this way.

Here are some steps I use in life coaching to help people get their control back:

– Firstly, we need to recognise when it is our ‘inner saboteur’ speaking or acting and separate this from what we really believe, want and know to be true.

– Then, forgive ourselves for all the times we have let that saboteur take control; there is no use beating ourselves up for it, just forgive and clear the way to move forward.

– Next, identify the changes we need to make to get what we really want and to be who we really want to be and welcome those changes into our lives.

– Trust our ‘gut instinct’; follow our intuition; practise hearing what it is telling us and responding to it by taking action.

– Overcome the saboteur’s power, by taking small steps, small acts of courage, making small decisions, taking small choices to help us to regain control.

Once we have control over our lives and our future and are responding in a positive way to opportunities, we can move forward to achieve happiness and success, in whatever ways are appropriate for us.

I recommend a wonderful book called Sacred Contracts by Caroline Myss that is really helpful in learning to work with our inner saboteur.

Follow me here

What Lindsay’s clients say

‘Lindsay West Coaching is awesome, what an insight into myself, my values, my beliefs, my perceptions and most importantly my expectations based on those things! Let me say, that if you really want to know who you are and what you stand for, have a session, it is a revelation! At least I know that Making the Difference is right at my core! Magnificent’

Jenni Russell, author, coach and personal trainer.

‘I found my sessions with Lindsay very helpful in ascertaining that the direction I was going with my career was not in line with my values. Through the exercises in the sessions (which were often challenging), I was excited to find new ideas and ways from getting from ‘A’ to ‘B’. This ultimately ended in finding job in a completely different area and I am looking forward to the future. I can’t thank you enough for helping me with the process’.

A. Healy, Executive Assistant to CEO.

Since learning about my values and having coaching, day to day life has become so much easier, decisions are easier to make and I feel that in difficult situations, I can handle things much more easily, with as little stress as possible.’

Gwen O, Manager in Public Sector

‘What I found most useful from the sessions was working on defining my core values. Actually sitting down and looking at what things were important to me both personally and professionally helped guide some of the follow up sessions and in the couple of months since we finished I have often referred back to these values in order to make decisions and prioritise what needs to be done.’

Stacey Chapman, Wellbeing Business Owner

This process has helped in practical and emotional terms with new tools to look towards a positive career change. I have found the whole coaching experience liberating. The values and skills identification sessions were particularly helpful. I have gone from redundancy to having 2 jobs to choose from, one of which pays £15k more than my last job.

J Smyth Senior Manager, Housing Association

‘By exploring my values I have had such a revelation and understanding as to ‘why’ I feel like I do when my values have not been ‘honoured’. It has helped me handle the ‘hurts’ so much better and I am now more in control of my emotions. A wonderful exercise and so fortunate to have Lindsay supporting me on my road to self discovery, thank you Lindsay’